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Change Ringing Handbells Come to America AGEHR History & Organization

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Change Ringing Handbells Come to America AGEHR History & Organization Certification Course A Text Change Ringing Handbells Come to America AGEHR History & Organization by Martha Lynn Thompson CHANGE RINGING Music, Math, Sport “The art of change ringing is peculiar to the English, and, like most English peculiarities, unintelligible to the rest of the world. To the musical Belgian, for example, it appears that the proper thing to do with a carefully tuned ring of bells is to play a tune upon it. By the English campanologist, the playing of tunes is considered to be a childish game, only fit for foreigners; the proper use of bells is to work out mathematical permutations and combinations.” — Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors Although change ringing is done primarily in England, it is practiced and enjoyed in other countries, too. Change ringing doesn’t produce melody or harmony, so it doesn’t have a lot of musical significance. In Belgium and The Netherlands, carillons, the “singing towers,” could play tunes, but this didn’t catch on in the British Isles. Instead, the English invented their own mathematical order or sequences of ringing their tower bells. This became known as change ringing. Practicing in bell towers did have its disadvantages: The early morning or evening rehearsals disturbed the neighbors. The towers were cold, damp, and drafty. These disadvantages led to the development of handbells so the ringers could practice their changes in a more comfortable setting without disturbing the village. These rehearsals were held in homes, churches, or even the local pub! Eventually it was discovered that handbells could be used to ring beautiful music, not just mathematical changes. When the wheel and pulley method of ringing swinging tower bells was introduced in the late 17th century, the ringers rang rounds, – a descending major scale with the treble as the highest bell and the tenor as the lowest. That soon became tiresome and didn’t challenge their thinking, so the English invented change ringing – a way of ringing bells in various mathematical patterns or orders. Each order/pattern/sequence is called a change or what mathematicians call a permutation. To prevent bells from coming back into rounds, hundreds of methods – each with its own name – have been invented by mathematicians. Practicing with tower bells was a bit difficult for individuals, so “dumb bells” were invented. These wooden bells allowed ringers to practice their changes in silence, and in the process, to develop the strength necessary to ring the tower bells. Today, Worcester Cathedral in England has a Teaching Center in the bell tower where ringers (individually or as a ringing band) can practice changes on 8 weighted wooden “dumb bells,” All methods are governed by 5 rules: The ringing always begins and ends with rounds – ringing the scale from highest to lowest bell. Each bell must be played once, but not more than once, in each change. From one change to the next, a bell can move no more than one position in its order of ringing. Therefore, from one change to the next, a bell will ring: On the same beat One beat earlier One beat later A change cannot be repeated. No two changes can be alike. Each change is rung with a steady beat. Change ringing can be done on any number of bells from 4 on up, but most handbell change ringing is done on 6 or 8 bells. Change Ringing— 1 When change ringing is done in a tower, the bells are rung in one of two different “strokes:” the “handstroke” the “backstroke.” When changes are rung on handbells, two different strokes are used, representing the two tower bell strokes. For the handstroke the bell is rung upwards and backwards. (This is similar to what Americans call “off the table ringing.”) The backstroke is done by ringing the bell downward and forward (This is similar to the way most American groups ring). Since the bells must ring in both directions—backward and forward—the restraining springs must be set with equal tension so the clappers strike evenly on both sides of the bell. To determine how many changes are possible on a given number of bells, multiply all the numbers: Three bells: 3 x 2 x 1= 6 changes Four bells: 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24 changes Six bells: 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 720 changes It would take 38 years to play the 479,000,000 changes possible on 12 bells! A peal is defined as the completion of at least 5040 changes. A touch is anything less than a “peal.” Plain Hunt, the basis of change ringing and the simplest method, is described in the following 2 charts. Simple 4 Bell Change Plain Hunt Rounds 1 2 3 4 Handstroke Rounds 1 2 3 4 Backstroke 2 1 4 3 Handstroke 2 4 1 3 Backstroke 4 2 3 1 4 3 2 1 Back Rounds 3 4 1 2 3 1 4 2 1 3 2 4 Rounds 1 2 3 4 Change Ringing— 2 Simple 6 Bell Change—Plain Hunt Rounds Handstroke 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 Backstroke 2 1 4 3 6 5 Handstroke 2 4 1 6 3 5 Backstroke 4 2 6 1 5 3 4 6 2 5 1 3 6 4 5 2 3 1 6 5 4 3 2 1 Back Rounds 5 6 3 4 1 2 5 3 6 1 4 2 3 5 1 6 2 4 3 1 5 2 6 4 1 3 2 5 4 6 Rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 Change Ringing— 3 HANDBELL RINGING COMES TO THE UNITED STATES The Peak Family Ringers probably introduced handbell ringing in the United States in the 1830s. They are known to have given concerts in the eastern United States, and probably predated the Lancashire Ringers which P.T. Barnum brought from England. According to an article published in the New York Times on February 22, 1885, Mr. and Mrs. William Peak were at that time, “inmates in the Cortland County Poorhouse near Homer, NY.” Mrs. Peak stated that she and her husband had heard Barnum’s Lancashire Ringers in Eastport, Maine, in about 1845. Mrs. Peak also said that the “Swiss people were anxious to return home, the climate having proved fatal to two of their number. Mr. Peak bought them out.” “After three months’ practice,” said Mrs. Peak, “William Peak had made himself master of the bell ringing art and had also instructed the other members of our family. On our public appearance, triumph after triumph followed in quick succession.” PHINEAS T. BARNUM was a circus owner, an entrepreneur, and a great showman. While in Liverpool, England, he heard a prize-winning, tune-ringing handbell “band” called the Lancashire Ringers and he arranged to bring them to the United State for a concert tour in the 1840s. Being a showman, he decided to dress them in Swiss Alpine costumes and call them “Swiss Bell Ringers.” These Englishmen spoke nothing but English, so it was suggested that they not speak in public. However, Barnum said that if they spoke in their native Lancashire dialect, no one would know that they were speaking English! Because this group of “Swiss” ringers was so successful, Americans often mistakenly think that handbell ringing came to the United States from Switzerland instead of from England. P. T. Barnum In 1850, in the tower of Christ Church, Philadelphia, the Lancashire Ringers rang the first complete peal heard in the United States. Handbell Ringing Comes to the United States—1 MARGARET SHURCLIFF In the late 19th century, most handbell ringing was done by vaudevillians, but in the early 20th century, Arthur Nichols introduced handbells to New England. They were used as practice bells by the tower bell ringers of the Old North Church in Boston. As a young woman, his daughter, Margaret, went with him to England to learn to ring tower bells so that they could reactivate the bells in the tower of Boston’s Old North Church, the church of Paul Revere fame. Margaret became very good at change ringing and she was highly respected by men with whom she rang changes. In 1902, she became the first American woman to ring a peal on tower bells in England. When Margaret left England she was presented with a small set of Whitechapel handbells, the first of many handbells coming to the United States from England. In 1923, Margaret—daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Howard Nichols and now Mrs. Arthur Shurcliff—organized The Beacon Hill Ringers. This tune-ringing group included 5 of her 6 children plus several friends and was well known for ringing at Christmastime on Beacon Hill in Boston. She continued to introduce her friends to handbell ringing and handbells “bands” soon became popular throughout New England. Margaret, who shared her father’s hobby of handbell ringing, was also an accomplished carpenter. Her husband, Margaret Shurcliff Arthur was a the Chief Landscape Architect for the restoration and recreation of the gardens, landscape, and town planning of Colonial Williamsburg. THE AGEHR INSIGNIA AGEHR Insignia This official insignia of the AGEHR was made from a photograph of a real hand holding a real handbell. The hand is that of Margaret Shurcliff, founder and first president of AGEHR. The concentric circles in the design suggest the reverberations or overtones produced when a handbell is rung. The official Guild colors—blue and gold—were used when the insignia was reproduced in color: 1—Blue circles, lettering 2—Gold bell casting and blue hand 3—Brown handle of bell 4.—White background Handbell Ringing Comes to the United States—2 Mission Handbell Musicians of America is dedicated to advancing the musical art of handbell/hanchime ringing through education, community and communication.
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